Shrimp Enchiladas

I know I am terrible at updating my food blog. I only did this to share with friends and family members, but soon after starting Oh My Ganache!, I started reading other cooking blogs and cooking all these new recipes and so I neglected my own blog. But today I was eating some leftover Shrimp Enchiladas and realized I had the picture and recipe and should at least put these on the blog, especially because they are delicious! I love Mexican Food so much I could eat it every day.

I found the recipe from one of my favorite recipe blogs -- http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/. I changed the recipe a little bit. First I didn't have any red pepper, but I did have a jalapeno, so I put that in instead. And then I didn't have enough Monterey Jack cheese, so I did a combination of low-fat Monterey Jack cheese, pepper Jack, and Cheddar. And finally I don't like flour tortillas, so I used corn tortillas which I warmed up directly over my gas burner until they were soft enough to roll over without tearing. Dan doesn't like corn tortillas, so I made his with the Costco Tortillas that you have cook. Anyway I have made them twice now and LOVE them.
I was so excited to eat them, that I started to dig my fork in and then realized I hadn't taken a picture. They are that good.

Shrimp Enchiladas

1/2 cup sweet red pepper, chopped (I used 1 Jalapeno chopped finely)
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
2 T. butter
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 cups Monterey Jack cheese, divided (you can use half pepper-jack cheese for great results or cheddar)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined (I buy mine from Costco)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped
8 (9-inch) flour tortillas or corn tortillas warmed.

Saute peppers and onions in 2 T. butter until crisp-tender. Add oregano, salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne pepper, cream and flour; blend well. Continue cooking for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese; stir until melted. Add sour cream, stir to blend. Set aside. In another skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Saute shrimp and 1/2 cup onion until shrimp are pink. Remove shrimp and chop; return to butter and onion. Add chopped tomatoes and 1/2 of the cheese sauce. Spoon 1/3 cup shrimp mixture into each tortilla. Sprinkle cheese on top of shrimp mixture. Roll up tightly. Arrange seam side down in a 9X13-inch glass baking dish. Spoon remaining cheese sauce over tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

Shredded Pork

Before I start I am going apologize for the second recipe being a pork recipe too. I only eat pork every other week and it has been about two weeks since my last pork dinner. Today for dinner I made some shredded Pork Tacos. I like this recipe because I can put it in the crock pot. Originally this recipe was cooked in the oven, but I modified it so I could put it in the crock pot in the morning and leave it all day. I found the recipe in a Sunset magazine about five years ago. I love the Pork at Cafe Rio, but this recipe has no sugar yet has a sweet flavor.

Café Pasqual’s Barbacoa (Shredded Tacos)

If cooking meat up to 3 days ahead, chill airtight; freeze to store longer.

Makes: about 10 cups (I half the recipe! But it does freeze well)

1 pound onions, peeled and diced
1 pound firm-ripe tomatoes, rinsed, cored, and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 fresh jalapeno chilies, rinsed, stemmed, seeded, quartered lengthwise
2 dried bay leaves
1 cup chicken broth (I use a cup of water and a bouillon cube or Better than Bullion)
½ cup lime juice
2 T. white wine vinegar or I use cider or red wine
2 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground pepper
1 boned, beef chuck or boned pork shoulder or butt (4-5 lbs)-- either meat is really good!

Put all of the ingredients in the crock pot except the meat. Rinse beef or pork and put in crock pot. Cook on high for five hours or low for eight hours or until meat is tender enough to pull apart. Transfer meat to a platter. Pour pan juices through a strainer into a big pan (discard bay leaves; reserve remaining vegetable mixture); skim and discard fat. Boil juices over high heat until reduced to 1 cup, 25 to 30 minutes.
When meat is cool enough to handle, use two forks or your fingers to pull meat into shreds; discard fat and connective tissue. Add meat and reserved vegetable mixture to pan with juices. Stir occasionally over medium heat until steaming, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Serve on tortillas with crumbled cotija cheese, cheddar cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, or whatever toppings you like. I also like to use this in Taco Salads.

Starting my cooking Blog

My favorite computer past time of late is reading cooking blogs. Since I am always getting recipe requests I decided to finally start my blog. My first recipe is for Chile Verde since I have told a couple of friends that I would give it to them and I hadn't. I don't have a picture yet, but will put one up as soon as I make it the next time. So to Deanna and Annie -- here it is!

Chile Verde

Here's a recipe for Chile Verde that we really like. I made this the first time when my husband brought home a giant Pork Loin instead of Tenderloin from the store. Needless to say I felt daunted by this large piece of meat, but quickly realized I could make Chile Verde with it. I had always wanted to make Chile Verde and now was my chance. I served it the first time to my brother-in-law since it is one of his favorite dishes. He ate so much of it that he could barely walk. I knew then I had a winner. I found this recipe somewhere on the Internet and of course improved it to my liking. So enjoy.

Pork Chile Verde

2 lb. lean pork -- cut into cubes
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large onion cut into chunks
1 large can chopped green chiles
6 fresh tomatillos -- peeled, washed, and cut into quarters
2 cloves of garlic
6 fresh peppers -- I use a combination of poblano, green, Anaheim, and 1 jalapeno. Chop the peppers in big chunks leaving seeds in if you want a spicier sauce.

Lightly brown pork and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer everything to a slow cooker on high heat and add can of green chiles.

Put chopped tomatillos in blender. Blend well. Add peppers, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp. of oregano and 1/2 tsp. of cumin. Blend until everything is chopped up. Pour sauce into cooker and turn to low. I also add 1 tsp. of Better than Buillon Chicken flavor or buillon into the crockpot. Cook until meat is tender. Since pork cooks quickly, it is usually done in about 6 hours.

I serve this with tortillas -- any kind, using the sauce as the filling and putting some on top, refried beans, mexican rice, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese -- cheddar or cotija.

Angie's Extras: I like to get all the browned bits off the pan that I used to cook the pork in. I usually put the blended sauce in the pan and scrape up all the drippings in the pan before I put the sauce in the crockpot.